An appositive is a word or phrase that renames a noun in a sentence. Appositives are generally used to add meaning to a sentence by combining information or to spice up writing by varying the sentence structure. The appositive and the noun which it renames must always agree in gender, number and person. Let’s take a look at an example.

EX: My brother Charles is a neurosurgeon.

In the previous sentence the word Charles is an appositive because it renames the noun brother.

There are two different types of appositives: nonrestrictive and restrictive. Depending on which type of appositive you have, you will punctuate it differently. Nonrestrictive appositives are frequently set off from the remainder of the sentence with commas. This is the cue that the information, though it enhances the sentence, is not essential to understanding its meaning. However, restrictive appositives, which are essential to understanding meaning in a sentence, are not set off by commas. Let’s take a look using the previous example.

EX: My brother, Charles, is a neurosurgeon. (Nonrestrictive)

EX: My brother Charles is a neurosurgeon. (Restrictive)

Notice that in both cases the word Charles is the appositive. However, the fact that the sentences are punctuated differently indicates two different meanings. The first sentence signifies to the reader that Charles is simply renaming the noun brother. Therefore, the information is not essential to the meaning of the sentence, so it may be set off with commas. In other words, we can safely make the assumption that the writer has only one brother and his name is Charles. This is why the information is not essential to meaning in the sentence.

However, in the second example the word Charles, although it is acting as an appositive, is not set off with commas, which therefore indicates to the reader that Charles is not simply renaming the word brother – it is supplying additional information in the form of identifying which brother the appositive is referring to. In this case, the speaker has more than one brother, so the information is restrictive and is not set off with commas.

Appositives may come at the beginning of the sentence, too.

EX: The largest city in Texas, Houston is home to the Astros.

In this case, the extra information is the idea that Houston is the largest city in Texas.

Along with our website, we recommend the following site: Purdue University’s Online Writing Center’s handout “Appositives” at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/g_appos.html.  This handout features a helpful section on punctuating appositives.

Test your ability to punctuate appositives by underlining the appositives in each sentences and properly punctuating those that require commas.

1. Susie a friend of my mother’s works at the grocery store.

2. The most popular business newspaper in the U.S. The Wall Street Journal was founded in 1983.

3. The actor Al Pacino starred in The Godfather.

4. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Toni Morrison spoke at the conference.

Answers

1. Susie, a friend of my mother’s, works at the grocery store.

2. The most popular business newspaper in the U.S., The Wall Street Journal was founded in 1983. (In this case, the appositive comes before the noun-- The Wall Street Journal.)

or

The most popular business newspaper in the U.S., The Wall Street Journal, was founded in 1983.  (In this case, the newspaper title is the appositive.)  

3. The actor Al Pacino starred in The Godfather.

4. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Toni Morrison spoke at the conference.

Grammatically Correct is a grammar tip of the week created by Academic Center Peer Writing Tutors at the University of Houston-Victoria in Victoria, Texas.

Comments about this newsletter should be directed to Summer Leibensperger, leibenspergers@uhv.edu.

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